Goatherd Kodiveeran falls in love with Annakodi, a village beauty. Their romance faces opposition from Sadayan, the village moneylender's son, who also desires Annakodi. As love blossoms between Kodiveeran and Annakodi, societal pressures and caste differences lead to Kodiveeran's imprisonment and Annakodi's forced marriage to Sadayan after her mother's death.
In August 2011, Bharathiraja revealed that the film would be titled Annakodiyum Kodiveeranum and would have a village centric theme similar to films such as Paruthiveeran and Subramaniyapuram. Parthiepan was signed on to play the title dual roles of father and son and subsequently completed a photo shoot for the film.[2] In November 2011, Karthika Nair was announced as the leading female role of Annakodi, more than two decades after Bharathiraja had cast her mother Radha in her debut film.[3]Iniya was also cast in a major role.[4] In a turn of events, the day before the shoot began, Parthiepan was replaced by Ameer to portray the title roles, with Parthiepan admitting he was left in the dark about the decision.[5]
When the Mullaperiyar Dam issue precipitated, Bharathiraja suspended the shooting of the film and sent his Kerala-born heroines home until the issue had died down.[4] The film ran into further trouble when the tussle between the producers and FEFSI created disputes between the lead actor and director. Ameer made remarks against the producers council and backed the FEFSI,[6] and was Ameer replaced by Bharathiraja's son Manoj.[7] Iniya was also reported to have left the project due to the delay, but she denied such claims.[8] But her role was eventually not incorporated in the film.[9]
S. Saraswathi of Rediff.com wrote the film "lacks depth and fails to ignite the passion needed for such an emotionally compelling story".[11] Malini Mannath of The New Indian Express wrote, "Long and dreary, and testing one’s patience at times, it’s a disappointing fare from the ace director".[12] Vivek Ramz of In.com wrote, "Overall, Annakodi is typical Bharathiraja style village story but it lacks the intensity and soul seen in the director's earlier ones".[13]Baradwaj Rangan wrote for The Hindu, "This material, stuffed with class and caste politics, is perfect for melodrama, with juicy twists and turns at every point. But, here, there’s no emotional core. The leads strike no sparks together – they could be siblings...and the drama doesn’t explode. A strange kind of listlessness settles over the proceedings, and we see a lot of things happening without being affected by any of it."[14]
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